Aliaa Magda Elmahdy

Stencil graffiti depicting Elmahdy, in the form of the nude blog photo of herself. Its text also refers to the case of Samira Ibrahim.[1]

Aliaa Magda Elmahdy (Arabic: علياء ماجدة المهدى‎, IPA: [ʕælˈjæːʔ ˈmæɡdæ (ʔe)lˈmæhdi, ˈʕæljæ-]; born 16 November 1991) is an Egyptian internet activist and women's rights advocate. She became known for publishing a nude photo on her Blogspot page,[2] which she described on Facebook as "screams against a society of violence, racism, sexism, sexual harassment and hypocrisy".[3] Since then she became a subject of several death threats.[4] A student of the American University of Cairo, Elmahdy describes herself as a "secular, liberal, feminist, vegetarian, individualist Egyptian" and has identified as an atheist since turning 16.[5][6] In 2013, Elmahdy sought political asylum in Sweden for fear of being jailed, after being kidnapped and receiving death threats, and escaping a rape attempt.[7]

Elmahdy's blog received over 2 million hits with a number of insults. Pages for both support and protest against Elmahdy's action have been opened on Facebook.[9] Fearing of becoming tainted in the eyes of Islamic conservatives, Egyptian liberals distanced themselves from Elmahdy.[9] The April 6 Youth Movement issued a statement denying claims that Elmahdy is a member of the group.[9]

A case, filed by Islamic law graduates, accused Elmahdy and Amer of "violating morals, inciting indecency and insulting Islam".[10] False rumors about her beating on the Tahrir Square and death have been spread since then.[11]

Egyptian expatriates, Western-based Arab journalists[12] and representatives of American art community[13] have expressed their support. Iranian-born activist Maryam Namazie defined Elmahdy's action as "a scream against Islamism" and "the ultimate act of rebellion".[12] According to actress Amanda Banoub, Elmahdy "displayed genuine purity and modesty without a single layer of clothing".[12] Recalling the virginity tests carried out by the military to women in Tahrir Square, Egyptian-American journalist Mona Eltahawy noted that Elmahdy "is the Molotov cocktail thrown at the Mubaraks in our heads – the dictators of our mind – which insists that revolutions cannot succeed without a tidal wave of cultural changes that upend misogyny and sexual hypocrisy".[12]

About forty Israeli women gathered via Facebook to "show support in a non-violent and legitimate way for a woman who is just like us – young, ambitious, full of dreams and evidently has a developed sense of humor". The participants were photographed behind a sign saying "love without limits" and "Homage to Aliaa Elmahdi. Sisters in Israel".[14]

Continuing the photographic theme of her protest, Elmahdy has subsequently called for men to submit images of themselves wearing veils "in an attempt to create awareness over hypocritical attitudes," and requested women "who wish to remove their veils to send her photographs of their faces, to be published online."[15]

In August 2014, she released a photo of herself menstruating on the flag of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) wearing only shoes, while another woman defecated on it. Media in the Islamic World did not publish the photo, as the ISIS flag features the Muslim declaration of faith.[16]